Saturday, July 16, 2011

DNC not the first to point out Governor Romney was 47th on Job Creation

It is not just the Democrats who are pointing out that the state of Massachusetts was third from last in job creation during Governor Romney's tenure. Romney is hoping that his strategy of presenting himself as the expert on economics will give him the momentum he needs to win the Republican nomination. But with his government mandated healthcare plan, his flip flops on key social issues and now his own record, his road to the nomination is not as easy as he once thought.

Today the DNC came out with a new ad aimed at Romney's lack of job creation in the state of Massachusetts. But before Republicans get hung up on who made the ad, they should note that Romney has already been questioned on his actual record.

In June Greta Van Sustern interviewed Donald Trump and asked him if Romney's knowledge of the economy is overstated or understated?

Donald Trump answered saying "When he was governor of MA, MA was not a stellar state-3rd worst record of all the states in employment. A lot of jobs were lost during his tenure. And Frankly, he did not run for re-election for a second term because his poll numbers were so low."

Then we also have fellow Republican candidate Jon Huntsman who criticized Romney for his lack of leadership on job growth:

"I am here to tell you, as you evaluate and look at the candidates, simply analyze where it is they have been and what they have done and what kind of achievements they have to show from their time as a chief executive, and whether it is has applicability nationwide,"

"When you look at the absolute increases in job creation, Utah led the way in the United States in terms of job creation," he said. "That, compared and contrasted with certain other states like Massachusetts, which I will just pull out randomly, not first, but 47th."

As the primary battle heats up, more Republican candidates will attack Romney on his record. This is just a glimpse of what the Democrats have in store for Mitt Romney should he be the eventual nominee who goes up against President Obama.

"It is not just the Democrats who are pointing out that the state of Massachusetts was third from last in job creation during Governor Romney's tenure.

This is factually incorrect. 47th is not third worst. It's fourth worst. 50th, 49th, 48th, 47th.

;)

Btw, I seem to remember a certain commenter complaining about hit pieces by Romney's "minions" on a post at race. Let's see, oh, here's the quote:

Romney supporters are always talking about how Romney is the better because he does not sling mud when he is campaigning. But he has his minions who do it for him. Whether they are on cable news, an anonymous source in an article, or a fpp at a conservative site, hitpieces on Romney opponents keep coming, and it does not reflect well on Romney.

http://race42012.com/2011/07/09/pawlenty-houston-we-have-a-problem/

Scroll down to comment #10 there.

Might be worth a comparison--this post and that post. Which one is more of a hit piece?

At the beginning of Governor Romney's term, Massachusetts was losing thousands of jobs every month. Under the previous administration, more than 140,000 jobs were lost in a deep recession. Under Romney, Massachusetts began to turn the corner. He moved to make Massachusetts a better place to do business by lowering taxes 19 times, streamlining regulations and enhancing incentives for businesses to move to the state. By the end of his administration, nearly 80,000 jobs had been created from the low point of the recession and the Massachusetts economy was on the rebound.

RW, Romney's seven principles of successful economies is a good place to start if you want to know what Romney would do for jobs. And beyond that, he's mentioned many specific things he would do.

The main thing he talks about is taking steps to ensure that businesses have confidence that the economy is going to improve so they can plan future expenditures such as hiring more people and buying equipment. Right now, they don't know what to expect from this administration and are holding back. Anything that improves the economic outlook will be favorable to jobs. Lower taxes, less regulation, etc.

Romney had a Democratic Legislature in Mass that was veto proof. Donald Trump wouldn't know anything about dealing with something like that as a Governor, he just pays off Democrats... Anthony Weiner, Chuck Schumer, Charlie Rangle and Harry Reid, for instance. (Are we allowed to say that? Thank you... )

And this is a talking point David Axelrod and Obama's minions have been spreading all over twitter etc. So nice of Trump to help him out. ;)

Yes. They need to know what tax rates will be 2, 3 and 4 years down the road. I get that. every other candidate hares his view on that.

My point is that I don't hear him articulating what he would do on the trail. He just keeps bashing Obama's record on jobs. As TC points out, Obama would have the perfect comeback for that line of attack.

Lowering taxes, especially where there is “double taxation“,Eliminating outdated and burdensome regulations,Refusing to impose unions on employees, Enacting tort reform,Stop the trillion dollar deficits and spend only what we have, Publish an annual balance sheet for the country,Adopt dynamic financial regulations,Reduce and simplify taxes, especially double taxes that depress job creation, Adopt a “strong dollar“ strategy, including spending restraint and entitlement sustainability reforms,Reform entitlements to make them sustainable in the long term,Adopt an annual budget process for entitlements,Reform tort liability to reduce the burden of frivolous lawsuits,Stop any new “ Government Growing “ stimulus programs,Get the government out of General Motors and other private companies.

National Growth

Increase our investment in science and basic research,Promote trade and American goods and services,Protect the rights of workers to vote by secret ballot,Establish incentive and employer-based job training programs to help people find new and sustainable employment,

Encourage shareholders and boards of directors to adopt reasonable compensation and long-term incentives for CEO’s and executives,Encourage the measurement of corporate CEO’s and union CEO’s on the basis of teamwork, productivity, and long term success of the enterprise.

RW, I firmly believe Romney is prepared to answer every question whether it's jobs or healthcare, or FP. He's been working on this since 2006. People make fun of him that he's been running non-stop, but hey--at least the man knows what he is talking about, and has a plan.

While Massachusetts trailed the nation in job creation, it was among the leaders in productivity, an important measure of economic health. The state's level of labor productivity ranks 7th highest, and since 2001, it has grown faster than the nation's (11.5% versus 10.6%). In 2005, the productivity level of an employee in Massachusetts was $94,150 in real output per worker, compared with $83,920 nationally.

"Massachusetts is leading the country in the transformation to a knowledge-based economy and is a leader in its level of productivity. This is partly the result of changes in the type of jobs and advances in technology, as well as the high education levels and skills of the workforce," said Charles Baker, President & CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.

I think you kind of have to look deeper into the issue itself and not just the fact that "47th" place on jobs record is horrible. Im no expert, but there was job growth in MA under governor romney, romney could have created thousands of jobs and still remain in 47th place. You just cant really compare states in these types of stats, as each state is different. You cant compare stats for job growth on say MA and TX or NY and AK. It wouldnt be fair and doesnt make sense.

Romney does articulate on the trail a great deal. For example, he had a meeting on his health care plan for the nation with a power point presentation. USA Today printed it on their website and it was streamed live by CSPAN. What did you hear on Fox about it that day? No Apology... ;)

"Why not just nominate someone who doesn't suck? ;)" This is a concept that many Romneyites do not understand. They think it is a competition of who sucks the least. How about stopping the sucking. But, that would require growing up to do. The reason Mr. Romney likes to compare himself to Democrats is because he would not look as good if he had to compare himself to Republicans.

Saying that Massachusetts ranked 47 in employment is sloppy. The ranking is not overall employement but is the number of jobs added. Nothing in that ranking tells you how many jobs were lost or when all was totaled if it was a net gain or loss. It happened to be a net gain of 50,000 jobs in 4 years.

Nor does it lead you to understand the unemployment rate when he left office was 4.7 down from 5.6 when he first took office. Now for the DNC to criticize 4.7% unemployment is utterly laughable!

If RW thinks Romney has yet to say how he would work to promote jobs its because RW isn't listening.

Have you ever heard Romney's "7 habits of highly effective economies". Each of the seven are specific directions he would take to strenghthen the economy to add jobs. Just about every townhall or forum he mentions it. Must you have your earplugs in RW?